BALTIMORE – Coppin State's men's basketball team won its fourth-straight game, defeating Maryland Eastern Shore, 71-65 in overtime on Saturday afternoon at PEC Arena. The Eagles improved to 7-21 overall, surpassing their win total from last season, and 5-6 in the MEAC while the Hawks fell to 8-20 on the year and 4-7 in league play.
With the victory on its Homecoming, Coppin matched its longest winning streak since the 2010-11 season. The last time CSU won five-straight was in the 2007-08 season when it made a magical run to the NCAA Tournament behind all-time leading scorer
Tywain McKee who will be inducted into the MEAC Hall of Fame next month.
DeMariontay Hall and
Hussain Williams led the Eagles with 13 points apiece, with Hall doing so in just 16 minutes on 3-of-6 shooting and 7-of-8 free throws before fouling out in a contest that was littered with a combined 56 foul calls.
Taj Thweatt was also in double figures with ten points, followed by
Camaren Sparrow with nine,
Hassan Perkins with seven,
Torrin Andrews with six,
Khali Horton with five, all on free throws, and both
Tyler Koenig and
Baasil Saunders with four each.
Sparrow led all players with eight rebounds while matching Williams and Perkins with two assists apiece. He also matched Thweatt with a pair of steals to lead the Eagles.
Coppin came out firing on all cylinders after an emotional pregame where assistant coach
Stephen Stewart had his #44 jersey retired. The Eagles jumped out to a 20-5 lead with a 12-0 run featuring threes by Andrews, Williams, and Thweatt. UMES did not go away, pulling to within five before Perkins buried a three with nine seconds to go in the first, putting CSU up 33-25 at the break.
The Hawks fought back early in the second to get back within 41-37 at the 15:20 mark of the second half before Coppin used another long run to up its lead to 52-37 on a breakaway dunk by Thweatt. UMES slowly clawed its way back into it, tying the score at 57 as the Eagles went cold from the floor.
With a tied score and 28 seconds left in regulation, Horton was fouled while shooting a three and proceeded to sink all three free throws. However, UMES got the same call following a timeout and drained all three free throws to send the game into overtime.
A go-ahead layup by Perkins with 43 seconds remaining in overtime gave the Eagles a 67-65 advantage. UMES committed an offensive foul on the ensuing possession before Andrews and Horton combined to make 4-of-4 free throws in the final 15 seconds to seal the win.
Coppin returns to action on Saturday, February 28 when it hosts Norfolk State on Senior Day at 4:30 pm on ESPN+.
